Katie's Cutting Board

Well, here it is folks! Another cutting board! I made this one as a gift for my sister Katie. She just graduated from the Mesa Community College nursing school program. I really respect all those that have had to endure that rigorous training! I realize that a cutting board has nothing to do with nursing but Katie is also a great cook and I thought that she would appreciate a nice cutting board to add to her kitchen.

Its made out of black walnut (in case you couldn’t tell…). And for the handles I went with something that I thought looked a bit modern; stainless steel drawer pulls.

Katie loved it and she said that it might just look too good to cut on!

I love your project and Black Walnut wood. My parents have an old Black Walnut tree in their back yard that I would love to have. The problem is, I couldn’t bring myself to cut it down even if they would let me. I’ll have to wait until it dies on it’s own and hope that I am still alive.

To finish the it I used GF salad bowl finish thinned 50% with mineral spirits. I flooded it on from one side till I could see it starting to leak through to the other side. Then I applied some to the second side, wiped off the excess and set the board on it’s side over night. I applied a few coats over the next few days and then sanded it all down to a flat sheen. Then I used some “butcher block conditioner” on it. It had carnuba wax and mineral oil in it. In retrospect I wouldn’t recomend using the method that I used. I found that I got some blotching with the conditioner. Probably from the board not being completely sealed with the salad bowl finish and then absorbing the oil unevenly.

To attach the handles I drilled holes and epoxied the handles in with 5 min epoxy. I found some at HD that had a cool twist on aplicator tip. It mixed equally as the product advanced down the aplicator tip.

Very nice! I have been up in the air about what 2 color combination I wanted to use to give a cutting board a spin. Now that I see the all walnut board, I think I just decided!!!! Also, I really like the handles, I have seen those used here on lumberjocks for serving trays, and they look equally as nice on a cutting board.

-- Measuring twice and cutting once only works if you read the tape correctly!

Great job and nice clean contemporary look. It really is too nice to use. Who would dare be the first one to put a knife mark on it and ruin the look? I also like the chamfered edge. If it is going to be used on a regular basis, probably mineral oil or vegetable oil would be the best finish. It’s easy to refresh and isn’t going to hurt anything. You sure can’t throw it in the dishwasher. On the other hand, you could just leave it out for display and use the plastic one from Ikea for actual chopping.